Systems and methods for executing a supplemental function for a natural language query

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described to address shortcomings in conventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplemental function for a natural language query based on the user&#39;s profile. In some aspects, the systems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template in the user&#39;s profile matching the user&#39;s query, and identify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition to responding to the user&#39;s query. The user&#39;s profile is customized on the user&#39;s usage patterns of an interactive media guidance application. By monitoring the user&#39;s usage patterns and learning from the user&#39;s actions in conjunction with the user&#39;s natural language queries on which supplemental functions to execute, the interactive media guidance application may provide a smarter and more efficient user experience.

BACKGROUND

Conventional conversation systems are configured to respond to a user'squery, such as a natural language query, with results for the user'squery, such as media assets of interest to the user. Some conventionalconversation systems may in addition include a generic pre-programmedresponse, such as “Thank you” or “Good-bye.” Some conventionalconversation systems may in addition include a pre-programmed responsebased on time of day, such as “Good Morning” or “Good Evening.” However,these pre-programmed responses are generic to all users of theconversation system and do little to enhance the user's experience whileinteracting with the conversation system.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are described to address shortcomings inconventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplementalfunction for a natural language query based on the user's profile. Thesystems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine aquery template in the user's profile matching the user's query, andidentify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the querytemplate in addition to responding to the user's query. The systems andmethods may be implemented via an interactive media guidance applicationrunning on a user device, a remote server, or another suitable device.The interactive media guidance application may be implemented partiallyon multiple devices such that some portions of the interactive mediaguidance application are executed on one device while other portions ofthe interactive media guidance application are executed on anotherdevice. The user's profile may be based on the user's usage patterns ofthe interactive media guidance application.

For example, in addition to responding to the user's natural languagequery, the interactive media guidance application may execute acustomized supplemental function to generate a subsequent question tothe user based on the likelihood of what the user typically does aftergetting a response to a similar query. For example, the user may input anatural language query such as “Who played the role of Tony Montana inScarface?” The interactive media guidance application may respond with asuitable response, such as “Al Pacino played the role,” and execute acustomized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generatea subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to view hisother movies?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequentquestion may be chosen based on the user's profile. The user's profilemay indicate that for queries matching a particular query template, suchas “Who played the role of character X in movie Y,” a supplementalfunction to generate a subsequent question for other movies of the actorshould be executed. This may be because in past usage of the interactivemedia guidance application the user has typically asked for other moviesof the actor after inputting such a query. The interactive mediaguidance application may generate for display other movies of the actoron receiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, theinteractive media guidance application may provide the information forother movies of the actor directly to the user without first posing aquestion.

In another example, the user may input a natural language query such as“What's on ZNN?” The interactive media guidance application may respondwith a suitable response, such as “ZNN Newsreel,” and execute acustomized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generatea subsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to tune to ZNN?”The supplemental function to generate the subsequent question may bechosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or anothersuitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “What's on Channel Z,” asupplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whetherto tune to Channel Z should be executed. This may be because in pastusage of the interactive media guidance application the user hastypically tuned to the channel after inputting such a query. Theinteractive media guidance application may tune to Channel Z onreceiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, theinteractive media guidance application may tune to Channel Z directlywithout first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query suchas “Is there a new season of Blue is the New Red?” The interactive mediaguidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Yes,the new season was released last week” and execute a customizedsupplemental function based on the user's profile to generate asubsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to watch it onTVMAX?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent questionmay be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or anothersuitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “Is there a new season ofShow A,” and where the media asset is available at a streaming service,a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whetherthe user wants to watch it on the streaming service should be executed.This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidanceapplication the user has typically watched the media asset on astreaming service after inputting such a query. The interactive mediaguidance application may activate the streaming service on receiving anaffirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive mediaguidance application may activate the streaming service directly withoutfirst posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query suchas “When is the next episode of Conviction?” The interactive mediaguidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “Thenext episode of Conviction will air tomorrow,” and execute a customizedsupplemental function based on the user's profile to generate asubsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to record it onthe DVR?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent questionmay be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or anothersuitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “When is the next episodeof Show B,” a supplemental function to generate a subsequent questionasking whether to record the next episode of Show B should be executed.This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidanceapplication the user has typically entered a record request to the DVRfor the next episode after inputting such a query. The interactive mediaguidance application may generate a recording request for Show B onreceiving an affirmative response from the user. Alternatively, theinteractive media guidance application may generate the recordingrequest automatically without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query suchas “Give me information on show Star City.” The interactive mediaguidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as “StarCity is a television program that airs on XYZ,” and execute a customizedsupplemental function based on the user's profile to generate asubsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to watch it onTVMAX?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent questionmay be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or anothersuitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “Give me information onshow C,” and where the media asset is not currently airing but isavailable on a streaming service, a supplemental function to generate asubsequent question asking whether the user wants to watch it on thestreaming service should be executed. This may be because in past usageof the interactive media guidance application the user has typicallylooked for options to watch the media asset after inputting such aquery. The interactive media guidance application may activate thestreaming service on receiving an affirmative response from the user.Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application may activatethe streaming service directly without first posing a question to theuser.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query suchas “Is the new movie Ghostbusters in theaters?” The interactive mediaguidance application may respond with a suitable response, such as“Ghostbusters will hit theaters this weekend,” and execute a customizedsupplemental function based on the user's profile to generate asubsequent question to the user, such as “Do you want to buy a movieticket?” The supplemental function to generate the subsequent questionmay be chosen based on the user's profile, a generic profile, or anothersuitable profile. The user's profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “Is movie D in theaters,”a supplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whetherthe user wants to purchase a movie ticket should be executed. This maybe because in past usage of the interactive media guidance applicationthe user has typically purchased a movie ticket after inputting such aquery. The interactive media guidance application may generate fordisplay available showtimes and prices for movie D on receiving anaffirmative response from the user. Alternatively, the interactive mediaguidance application may provide the information on available showtimesand prices directly without first posing a question to the user.

In yet another example, the user may input a natural language query suchas “Is the Big Game on yet?” The interactive media guidance applicationmay respond with a suitable response, such as “Yes, the Big Game started15 minutes ago,” and execute a customized supplemental function based onthe user's profile to generate a subsequent question to the user, suchas “Do you want to view it on the living room television?” Thesupplemental function to generate the subsequent question may be chosenbased on the user's profile, a generic profile, or another suitableprofile. The user's profile may indicate that for queries matching aparticular query template, such as “Is Sports Program E on yet,” asupplemental function to generate a subsequent question asking whetherthe user wants to view it on the living room television should beexecuted. This may be because in past usage of the interactive mediaguidance application the user has typically tuned to Sports Program E onthe living room television after inputting such a query on his or hermobile phone or another suitable second screen device. The interactivemedia guidance application may activate the living room television andtune to Sports Program E on receiving an affirmative response from theuser.

Alternatively, the interactive media guidance application mayautomatically tune to Sports Program E on the living room televisionwithout first posing a question to the user.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application providesinformation on additional features that are available but may not be yetknown to the user. For example, the user may request information on aforeign language media asset. The user profile may not have a matchingquery template but the generic profile may include a matching querytemplate to provide information on subtitle information. The interactivemedia guidance application may execute the supplemental function andprovide information to the user that English subtitles are available forthe selected foreign language media asset. In addition to providinginformation on new features or features that are yet unknown to theuser, the interactive media guidance application may also provide anenhanced user experience by allowing the user to explore these featureswithout needing to take the initiative him- or herself to formulate anatural language query to inquire on availability of the features.

Alternatively or additionally, the supplemental function to generate thesubsequent question may be chosen based on a generic profile that isbased on usage patterns of multiple users of the interactive mediaguidance application. The generic profile may indicate that for queriesmatching a particular query template, such as “Who played the role ofcharacter X in movie Y,” a supplemental function to generate asubsequent question for other movies of the actor should be executed. Insome embodiments, if a matching query template is not found in theuser's profile, the interactive media guidance application determinesthe supplemental function to execute based on the generic profile. Forexample, the user may not have input such or a similar query before, andtherefore the user profile does not have any usage pattern for the user.

In some embodiments, the user profile is given priority over the genericprofile in cases of conflict. For example, if the user profile indicatesthat the supplemental function corresponding to the matching querytemplate activates the bedroom television for a sports program (i.e.,the user prefers to view the sports program on his or her bedroomtelevision), while the generic profile indicates the supplementalfunction corresponding to the matching query template activates theliving room television for a sports program (i.e., most users prefer toview the sports program on their living room televisions), thesupplemental function from the user profile may take precedence and beexecuted. In another example, if the user profile indicates that thesupplemental function corresponding to the matching query templateshould not be executed, i.e., the user has actively chosen to suppressthe supplemental function, while the generic profile indicates thesupplemental function corresponding to the matching query templateactivates the bedroom television, the user profile may take precedence,and therefore no supplemental function may be executed.

In some aspects, the systems and methods described provide for executinga supplemental function for a natural language query presented to aninteractive media guidance application. The interactive media guidanceapplication receives, from a user, a query for a media asset. Theinteractive media guidance application generates for display the mediaasset in response to the query. The interactive media guidanceapplication retrieves a user profile indicating the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application. The interactivemedia guidance application determines whether the user profile includesa query template matching the user's query. If the user profile isdetermined to include the query template matching the user's query, theinteractive media guidance application identifies a supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template and executes thesupplemental function subsequent to generating for display the mediaasset in response to the query.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance applicationgenerates for display an interactive media guidance screen including themedia asset and output from execution of the supplemental function.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a content source where the media asset isavailable. The interactive media guidance application generates fordisplay the interactive media guidance screen including the output fromexecution of the supplemental function by generating for display theinteractive media guidance screen including the media asset and thecontent source where the media asset is available.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a guidance feature relating to the media asset.The interactive media guidance application generates for display theinteractive media guidance screen including the output from execution ofthe supplemental function by generating for display the media asset andthe guidance feature relating to the media asset. In some embodiments,the guidance feature is a recording request for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance applicationdetermines whether the user profile includes the query template matchingthe user's query by identifying one or more tokens in the query anddetermining whether the user profile includes the query templatematching at least a portion of the one or more tokens.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a corresponding plurality ofsupplemental functions. The interactive media guidance applicationidentifies the supplemental function corresponding to the query templateby identifying the supplemental function corresponding to the querytemplate from the user profile.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a remote database includes a pluralityof supplemental functions corresponding to the plurality of querytemplates. The interactive media guidance application identifies thesupplemental function corresponding to the query template by identifyingthe supplemental function corresponding to the query template from theremote database.

In some embodiments, the query template is referred to as a first querytemplate and the supplemental function is referred to as a firstsupplemental function. If the user profile is determined to not includea query template matching the user's query, the interactive mediaguidance application retrieves a generic profile indicating generalizedusage patterns of a plurality of users of the interactive media guidanceapplication. The interactive media guidance application determineswhether the generic profile includes a second query template matchingthe user's query.

In some embodiments, if the generic profile is determined to include thesecond query template matching the user's query, the interactive mediaguidance application identifies a second supplemental functioncorresponding to the second query template. The interactive mediaguidance application executes the second supplemental functionsubsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to thequery. The interactive media guidance application generates for displayan interactive media guidance screen including the media asset andoutput from execution of the second supplemental function.

Conventional conversation systems are configured to respond to a user'squery, such as a natural language query, with results for the user'squery and additional pre-programmed responses which are generic to allusers of the conversation system and do little to enhance the user'sexperience while interacting with the conversation system. The describedsystems and methods address shortcomings in conventional conversationsystems by executing a customized supplemental function for a naturallanguage query based on the user's profile. The systems and methodsreceive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template inthe user's profile matching the user's query, and identify and execute asupplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition toresponding to the user's query. Conventional conversation systems thatprovide pre-programmed responses provide for a poor user experiencebecause they do not customize their responses based on such a userprofile. In the systems and methods described, the user's profile iscustomized on the user's usage patterns of the interactive mediaguidance application. By monitoring the user's usage patterns andlearning from the user's actions in conjunction with the user's naturallanguage queries, the interactive media guidance application may providea smarter and more efficient user experience and minimize the need forpre-programmed responses.

It should be noted that the systems, methods, apparatuses, and/oraspects described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects described in thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display screen generated by amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative example of a display screen generatedby a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screengenerated by a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of a user profile data structureand a generic profile data structure in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screengenerated by a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screengenerated by a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for executing asupplemental function for a natural language query presented to a mediaguidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for when a userprofile does not include a query template matching a user query inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for determiningwhether a user profile includes a query template matching a user queryin accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are described to address shortcomings inconventional conversation systems by executing a customized supplementalfunction for a natural language query based on the user's profile. Thesystems and methods receive a user query for a media asset, determine aquery template in the user's profile matching the user's query, andidentify and execute a supplemental function corresponding to the querytemplate in addition to responding to the user's query. The systems andmethods may be implemented via an interactive media guidance applicationrunning on a user device (e.g., user equipment device 700 (FIG. 7)), aremote server (e.g., server 816 or 818 (FIG. 8)), or another suitabledevice. The interactive media guidance application may be implementedpartially on multiple devices such that some portions of the interactivemedia guidance application are executed on one device while otherportions of the interactive media guidance application are executed onanother device. The user's profile may be based on the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application.

In some aspects, the systems and methods described provide for executinga supplemental function for a natural language query presented to aninteractive media guidance application executed on control circuitry(e.g., control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)). The control circuitry receives,from a user, a query for a media asset. The control circuitry generatesfor display the media asset in response to the query. The controlcircuitry retrieves a user profile indicating the user's usage patternsof the interactive media guidance application. The control circuitrydetermines whether the user profile includes a query template matchingthe user's query. If the user profile is determined to include the querytemplate matching the user's query, the control circuitry identifies asupplemental function corresponding to the query template and executesthe supplemental function subsequent to generating for display the mediaasset in response to the query. The control circuitry generates fordisplay an interactive media guidance screen including the media assetand output from execution of the supplemental function.

In some embodiments, if the user profile is determined to not include aquery template matching the user's query, the control circuitryretrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of aplurality of users of the interactive media guidance application. Thecontrol circuitry determines whether the generic profile includes aquery template matching the user's query. If the generic profile isdetermined to include a query template matching the user's query, thecontrol circuitry identifies a supplemental function corresponding tothe query template. The control circuitry executes the supplementalfunction subsequent to generating for display the media asset inresponse to the query. The control circuitry generates for display aninteractive media guidance screen including the media asset and outputfrom execution of the supplemental function.

Conventional conversation systems are configured to respond to a user'squery, such as a natural language query, with results for the user'squery and additional pre-programmed responses which are generic to allusers of the conversation system and do little to enhance the user'sexperience while interacting with the conversation system. The describedsystems and methods address shortcomings in conventional conversationsystems by executing a customized supplemental function for a naturallanguage query based on the user's profile. The systems and methodsreceive a user query for a media asset, determine a query template inthe user's profile matching the user's query, and identify and execute asupplemental function corresponding to the query template in addition toresponding to the user's query. Conventional conversation systems thatprovide pre-programmed responses provide for a poor user experiencebecause they do not customize their responses based on such a userprofile. In the systems and methods described, the user's profile iscustomized on the user's usage patterns of the interactive mediaguidance application. By monitoring the user's usage patterns andlearning from the user's actions in conjunction with the user's naturallanguage queries, the interactive media guidance application may providea smarter and more efficient user experience and minimize the need forpre-programmed responses.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of display screen 100 generated bya media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. In this illustrative example, in addition to responding to auser's natural language query, the control circuitry executes acustomized supplemental function to generate information for the userbased on the likelihood of what the user typically does after getting aresponse to a similar query. The user inputs natural language query 102,“Who played the role of Tony Montana in Scarface?” The control circuitrygenerates a suitable response 104, “Al Pacino,” and executes acustomized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generatesubsequent information 106, “Scarface is available at MOVIES ONLINE.”The supplemental function to generate the subsequent information may bechosen based on the user's profile. The user's profile may indicate thatfor queries matching a particular query template, such as “Who playedthe role of character X in movie Y,” a supplemental function to generatesubsequent information for availability of the movie should be executed.This may be because in past usage of the interactive media guidanceapplication the user has typically searched for availability of themovie after inputting such a query. The control circuitry may generatefor display option 108 to watch the movie from the MOVIES ONLINEstreaming service.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of display screen 200 generated bya media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. In this illustrative example, in addition to responding tothe user's natural language query, the control circuitry executes acustomized supplemental function to generate information for the userbased on the likelihood of what the user typically does after getting aresponse to a similar query. The user inputs natural language query 202,“Find Korean movie Oldboy.” The control circuitry generates a suitableresponse 204, “Oldboy is available on MOVIES ONLINE,” and executes acustomized supplemental function based on the user's profile to generatesubsequent information 206, “This movie also has English subtitlesavailable.” The supplemental function to generate the subsequentinformation may be chosen based on the user's profile. The user'sprofile may indicate that for queries matching a particular querytemplate, such as “Find Korean movie X” or “Find foreign language Xmovie Y,” a supplemental function to generate subsequent information foravailability of English subtitles for the movie should be executed. Thismay be because in past usage of the interactive media guidanceapplication the user has typically searched for availability of Englishsubtitles for the movie after inputting such a query. The controlcircuitry may generate for display option 208 to watch the movie withEnglish subtitles from the MOVIES

ONLINE streaming service.

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative example of display screen 300generated by a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. In this illustrative example, the controlcircuitry generates information on an additional feature that isavailable but may not be yet known to the user. The user may requestinformation via query 302, “Show me latest TV episodes from TV ONLINE.”The control circuitry generates a suitable response 304, “Breaking Badepisode 5; Game of Thrones episode 9.” The control circuitry determinesthat the user's profile does not include a query template matching theuser's query. The control circuitry retrieves a generic profile that isbased on usage patterns of multiple users of the interactive mediaguidance application. The control circuitry determines that the genericprofile includes a query template matching the user's query and acorresponding supplemental function. The control circuitry executes thesupplemental function to generate subsequent information 306, “Yourprovider now also has episodes available from TV MAX.” This may bebecause in past usage of the interactive media guidance applicationmultiple users have typically searched for availability of latest TVepisodes from TV MAX in addition to TV ONLINE. The control circuitry maygenerate for display option 308 to search TV MAX for latest TV episodes.In addition to providing information on new features or features thatare yet unknown to the user, the interactive media guidance applicationmay also provide an enhanced user experience by allowing the user toexplore these features without needing to take the initiative him- orherself to formulate a natural language query to inquire on availabilityof the features.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of user profile data structure 400and generic profile data structure 450 in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. The supplemental function to execute fora user's natural language query may be based on either user profile datastructure 400 or generic profile data structure 450. User profile datastructure 400 may include user profile information based on the user'susage patterns of the interactive media guidance application. Forexample, for “query template 1” (402), the corresponding supplementalfunction to execute may be “supplemental function 1” (404). For example,for “query template 2” (406), the corresponding supplemental function toexecute may be “NULL” (408). This means that the user does not want anysupplemental function to be executed when a query matching this querytemplate is input. For example, for “query template 3” (410), thecorresponding supplemental function to execute may be “NA” (412). Thismeans that there is no supplemental function assigned yet to the querytemplate. This may be because the interactive media guidance applicationhas not yet established a usage pattern for the user to considerassigning a supplemental function.

Generic profile data structure 450 may include user profile informationgeneralized from multiple users based on usage patterns of the multipleusers of the interactive media guidance application. For example, for“query template 1” (452), the corresponding supplemental function toexecute may be “supplemental function 2” (454). For example, for “querytemplate 2” (456), the corresponding supplemental function to executemay be “supplemental function 3” (458). For example, for “query template3” (460), the corresponding supplemental function to execute may be“supplemental function 4” (462).

In some embodiments, the control circuitry determines the supplementalfunction to execute based on generic profile data structure 450 if amatching query template is not found in user profile data structure 400.For example, the user may not have input such or a similar query beforeand therefore the user profile does not have any usage patterns for theuser. Therefore for “query template 3,” the control circuitry may select“supplemental function 4” because there is no assigned supplementalfunction in user profile data structure 400. In some embodiments, userprofile data structure 400 is given priority over generic profile datastructure 450 in cases of conflict. For example, because there is aconflict between user profile data structure 400 that indicates“supplemental function 1” as corresponding to “query template 1” andgeneric profile data structure 450 that indicates “supplemental function2” as corresponding to “query template 1,” the control circuitry selects“supplemental function 1” based on user profile data structure 400having priority. In another example, because there is a conflict betweenuser profile data structure 400 that indicates “NULL” as correspondingto “query template 2” and generic profile data structure 450 thatindicates “supplemental function 3” as corresponding to “query template2,” the control circuitry does not select any supplemental functionbased on user profile data structure 400 having priority.

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

As referred to herein, an “interactive media guidance application,” or a“media guidance application” or, sometimes, a “guidance application” isan application that allows a user to consume, and/or navigate tocontent. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may beprovided as an online application (i.e., provided on a website), or as astand-alone application on a server or a user device. In someembodiments, control circuitry installed on various devices andplatforms may execute the media guidance application, as described inmore detail below. In some embodiments, the media guidance applicationand/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussedherein may be encoded on computer readable media. Computer readablemedia includes any media capable of storing data. The computer readablemedia may be transitory, including, but not limited to, propagatingelectrical or electromagnetic signals, or may be non-transitoryincluding, but not limited to, volatile and nonvolatile computer memoryor storage devices such as a hard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD,media card, register memory, processor caches, Random Access Memory(“RAM”).

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 5-6 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 5-6 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 5-6 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 500arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 500 may include grid 502 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 504, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 506, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 502 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 508, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 510. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 510 may be provided inprogram information region 512. Region 512 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 502 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 514, recorded content listing 516, andInternet content listing 518. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 500 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings514, 516, and 518 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 502 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 502. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 520. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 520.)

Display 500 may also include video region 522, and options region 526.Video region 522 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs thatare currently available, will be available, or were available to theuser. The content of video region 522 may correspond to, or beindependent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 502. Griddisplays including a video region are sometimes referred to aspicture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalitiesare described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794,issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other mediaguidance application display screens of the embodiments describedherein.

Options region 526 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 526 may be part of display 500 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 526 may concern features related to program listings in grid 502or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 8. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 6. Video mosaic display 600 includes selectable options 602 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 600, television listings option 604 isselected, thus providing listings 606, 608, 610, and 612 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 600 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 608 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 614 and text portion 616.Media portion 614 and/or text portion 616 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 614 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 600 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 606 islarger than listings 608, 610, and 612), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 7 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 700. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 8.User equipment device 700 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 702. I/O path 702 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 704, which includesprocessing circuitry 706 and storage 708. Control circuitry 704 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 702. I/O path 702 may connect control circuitry 704 (andspecifically processing circuitry 706) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 7 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 704 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 706. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 708). Specifically, control circuitry 704 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 704 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 704 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 704 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 8). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 708 thatis part of control circuitry 704. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 708 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 8, may be used to supplementstorage 708 or instead of storage 708.

Control circuitry 704 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 704 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 700. Circuitry 704 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 708 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 700, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 708.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 704 using user inputinterface 710. User input interface 710 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 712 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700. For example, display 712 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 710may be integrated with or combined with display 712. Display 712 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 712 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 712 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 712.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry704. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 704.Speakers 714 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 712 may be played throughspeakers 714. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers714.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 700. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage708), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 704 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 708 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 704 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 710. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 710 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 700 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 700. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 704 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 700. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 700.Equipment device 700 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 710 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 700 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 710.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 700 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 704). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 704 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 704. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 704. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 700 of FIG. 7 can be implemented in system 800 ofFIG. 8 as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804,wireless user communications device 806, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 7 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, or awireless user communications device 806. For example, user televisionequipment 802 may, like some user computer equipment 804, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 804 may, like some television equipment 802, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 804, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 806.

In system 800, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 8 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 802, user computer equipment 804, wireless user communicationsdevice 806) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 814.Namely, user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, andwireless user communications device 806 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 814 via communications paths 808, 810, and 812, respectively.Communications network 814 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 808, 810, and 812 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 812 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 it is awireless path and paths 808 and 810 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 808, 810, and 812, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 814.

System 800 includes content source 816 and media guidance data source818 coupled to communications network 814 via communication paths 820and 822, respectively. Paths 820 and 822 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 808, 810,and 812. Communications with the content source 816 and media guidancedata source 818 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 816 and 818 withuser equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 are shown as throughcommunications network 814, in some embodiments, sources 816 and 818 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 808, 810, and 812.

Content source 816 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 816 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 816 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 816 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 818 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 818may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 818 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 818 mayprovide user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 708, and executedby control circuitry 704 of a user equipment device 700. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 704 of user equipment device 700and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 818) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 818), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 818 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices802, 804, and 806 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 800 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 8.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 814.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 816 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 802 and user computer equipment 804may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 806 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 814. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 816 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 818. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, and wirelessuser communications device 806. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 804 or wireless usercommunications device 806 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 804. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 814. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 7.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 900 for controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) to execute a supplementalfunction for a natural language query presented to a media guidanceapplication in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Insome embodiments this algorithm may be encoded onto a non-transitorystorage medium (e.g., storage device 708) as a set of instructions to bedecoded and executed by processing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry706). Processing circuitry may in turn provide instructions to othersub-circuits contained within control circuitry 704, such as the tuning,video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaling,analog/digital conversion circuitry, and the like.

At step 902, control circuitry 704 initiates the process for executing asupplemental function for a natural language query presented to aninteractive media guidance application.

At step 904, control circuitry 704 receives, from a user, a query for amedia asset. For example, the user may input a natural language query,such as “Find movie Scarface.”

At step 906, control circuitry 704 generates for display the media assetin response to the query. For example, control circuitry 704 maygenerate for display a media asset identifier for media asset“Scarface.”

At step 908, control circuitry 704 retrieves a user profile indicatingthe user's usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a corresponding plurality ofsupplemental functions.

In some embodiments, the user profile indicating the user's usagepatterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a remote database includes a pluralityof supplemental functions corresponding to the plurality of querytemplates.

At step 910, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profileincludes a query template matching the user's query. In someembodiments, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profileincludes the query template matching the user's query by identifying oneor more tokens in the query and determining whether the user profileincludes the query template matching at least a portion of the one ormore tokens.

If the user profile is determined to include the query template matchingthe user's query, at step 912, control circuitry 704 identifies asupplemental function corresponding to the query template. For example,control circuitry 704 may determine that the user profile includes aquery template “Find movie X” matching the user's query “Find movieScarface.” Control circuitry 704 may identify a supplemental function tosearch for the media asset on streaming services and provide informationto the user on availability of the media asset from the streamingservices.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 identifies the supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template by identifying thesupplemental function corresponding to the query template from the userprofile.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 identifies the supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template by identifying thesupplemental function corresponding to the query template from theremote database.

At step 914, control circuitry 704 executes the supplemental functionsubsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to thequery. For example, control circuitry 704 to may execute thesupplemental function to search for and provide information aboutavailability of the media asset from the streaming services subsequentto generating for display the media asset identifier for media asset“Scarface.”

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 generates for display aninteractive media guidance screen including the media asset and outputfrom execution of the supplemental function. For example, controlcircuitry 704 may generate an interactive media guidance screenincluding the media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface” andinformation on availability of the media asset from the streamingservices.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a content source where the media asset isavailable. Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactivemedia guidance screen including the output from execution of thesupplemental function by generating for display the interactive mediaguidance screen including the media asset and the content source wherethe media asset is available.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a guidance feature relating to the media asset.Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactive mediaguidance screen including the output from execution of the supplementalfunction by generating for display the media asset and the guidancefeature relating to the media asset. In some embodiments, the guidancefeature is a recording request for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the query template is referred to as a first querytemplate and the supplemental function is referred to as a firstsupplemental function. If the user profile is determined to not includea query template matching the user's query, control circuitry 704retrieves a generic profile indicating generalized usage patterns of aplurality of users of the interactive media guidance application.Control circuitry 704 determines whether the generic profile includes asecond query template matching the user's query.

In some embodiments, if the generic profile is determined to include thesecond query template matching the user's query, control circuitry 704identifies a second supplemental function corresponding to the secondquery template.

Control circuitry 704 executes the second supplemental functionsubsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to thequery. Control circuitry 704 generates for display an interactive mediaguidance screen including the media asset and output from execution ofthe second supplemental function.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 9 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, thedescriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 9 may bedone in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logicalevaluations, such as those at 908, may be performed in any order or inparallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of thesystem or method. As a further example, in some embodiments severalinstances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, using multiplelogical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced byincorporating branch prediction.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 9 may beimplemented on a combination of appropriately configured software andhardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relationto FIGS. 7-8 could be used to implement one or more portions of theprocess.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1000 for controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) when a user profile does notinclude a query template matching a user query in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may beencoded onto a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 708)as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processingcircuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 706). Processing circuitry may inturn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within controlcircuitry 704, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding,encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry,and the like.

At step 1002, control circuitry 704 initiates the process for when theuser profile does not include a query template matching the user'squery.

At step 1004, control circuitry 704 retrieves a generic profileindicating generalized usage patterns of multiple users of theinteractive media guidance application.

In some embodiments, the generic profile indicating multiple users'usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a corresponding plurality ofsupplemental functions.

In some embodiments, the generic profile indicating multiple users'usage patterns of the interactive media guidance application includes aplurality of query templates and a remote database includes a pluralityof supplemental functions corresponding to the plurality of querytemplates.

At step 1006, control circuitry 704 determines whether the genericprofile includes a query template matching the user's query. In someembodiments, control circuitry 704 determines whether the genericprofile includes the query template matching the user's query byidentifying one or more tokens in the query and determining whether thegeneric profile includes the query template matching at least a portionof the one or more tokens.

If the generic profile includes a query template matching the user'squery, at step 1008, control circuitry 704 identifies a supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template. For example, controlcircuitry 704 may determine that the generic profile includes a querytemplate “Find movie X” matching the user's query “Find movie Scarface.”Control circuitry 704 may identify a supplemental function to search forthe media asset on streaming services and provide information to theuser on availability of the media asset from the streaming services.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 identifies the supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template by identifying thesupplemental function corresponding to the query template from thegeneric profile.

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 identifies the supplementalfunction corresponding to the query template by identifying thesupplemental function corresponding to the query template from theremote database.

At step 1010, control circuitry 704 executes the supplemental functionsubsequent to generating for display the media asset in response to thequery. For example, control circuitry 704 to may execute thesupplemental function to search for and provide information aboutavailability of the media asset from the streaming services subsequentto generating for display the media asset identifier for media asset“Scarface.”

In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 generates for display aninteractive media guidance screen including the media asset and outputfrom execution of the supplemental function. For example, controlcircuitry 704 may generate an interactive media guidance screenincluding the media asset identifier for media asset “Scarface” andinformation on availability of the media asset from the streamingservices.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a content source where the media asset isavailable. Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactivemedia guidance screen including the output from execution of thesupplemental function by generating for display the interactive mediaguidance screen including the media asset and the content source wherethe media asset is available.

In some embodiments, the supplemental function comprises a searchfunction for identifying a guidance feature relating to the media asset.Control circuitry 704 generates for display the interactive mediaguidance screen including the output from execution of the supplementalfunction by generating for display the media asset and the guidancefeature relating to the media asset. In some embodiments, the guidancefeature is a recording request for the media asset.

If the generic profile does not include a query template matching theuser's query, at step 1012, control circuitry 704 returns an indicationthat no supplemental function for the query is available.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, thedescriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 10 may bedone in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logicalevaluations, such as those at 1006, may be performed in any order or inparallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of thesystem or method. As a further example, in some embodiments severalinstances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, using multiplelogical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced byincorporating branch prediction.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the process of FIG. 10 may beimplemented on a combination of appropriately configured software andhardware, and that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relationto FIGS. 7-8 could be used to implement one or more portions of theprocess.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1100 for controlcircuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) to determine whether a userprofile includes a query template matching a user query in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. This process may be equallyapplicable to determine whether a generic profile includes a querytemplate matching a user query in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may be encoded onto anon-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 708) as a set ofinstructions to be decoded and executed by processing circuitry (e.g.,processing circuitry 706). Processing circuitry may in turn provideinstructions to other sub-circuits contained within control circuitry704, such as the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding,encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry,and the like.

At step 1102, control circuitry 704 initiates the process fordetermining whether the user profile includes a query template matchingthe user's query. For example, the user may input a natural languagequery, such as “Find movie Scarface.”

At step 1104, control circuitry 704 identifies a token in the query. Forexample, control circuitry 704 may identify token “Find” in the user'squery.

At step 1106, control circuitry 704 updates a token count for the query.For example, control circuitry 704 may update the token count for thequery from 0 to 1.

At step 1108, control circuitry 704 determines whether the user profileincludes a query template having the identified token.

If the user profile is determined to include a query template having theidentified token, at step 1110, control circuitry 704 updates a matchingtoken count for each query template that includes the identified token.Control circuitry 704 subsequently proceeds to step 1112. For example,control circuitry 704 may determine the user profile includes two querytemplates having the identified token “Find.” The two query templatesmay be “Find movie X” and “Find show X.”

If the user profile is determined to not include a query template havingthe identified token, at step 1112, control circuitry 704 determineswhether any tokens remain in the query to be analyzed. For example,control circuitry 704 may determine tokens remain in the query to beanalyzed.

If a token remains in the query to be analyzed, control circuitry 704returns to step 1104 and identifies the next token in the query. Forexample, control circuitry 704 may identify the next token “movie” inthe user's query.

If no tokens remain in the query to be analyzed, at step 1114, controlcircuitry 704 determines whether any query templates have a matchingtoken count greater than a threshold token count. The threshold tokencount may be based on the length of the user's query. For example, thethreshold count may be 1 for the user query “Find movie Scarface.”Control circuitry 704 may determine that query template “Find movie X”has a matching token count of 2, greater than the threshold token countof 1.

If a query template is determined to have a matching token count greaterthan a threshold token count, at step 1116, control circuitry 704returns the query template with the highest matching token count as thequery template matching the user's query. For example, control circuitry704 may return query template “Find movie X” as matching the user'squery.

If no query templates are determined to have a matching token countgreater than the threshold token count, at step 1118, control circuitry704 returns an indication that the user profile does not include a querytemplate matching the user's query.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 11 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, thedescriptions described in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 11 may bedone in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, conditional statements and logicalevaluations, such as those at 1108, 1112, and 1114, may be performed inany order or in parallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. As a further example, in some embodimentsseveral instances of a variable may be evaluated in parallel, usingmultiple logical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced byincorporating branch prediction. Furthermore, it should be noted thatthe process of FIG. 11 may be implemented on a combination ofappropriately configured software and hardware, and that any of thedevices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 7-8 could be used toimplement one or more portions of the process.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1. A method for executing a supplemental function for a natural languagequery presented to an interactive media guidance application,comprising: receiving, from a user, a query for a media asset;determining whether a query template matches the user's query; inresponse to determining that the query template matches the user'squery, identifying and executing a supplemental function correspondingto the query template. 2-51. (canceled)